Ball-bearing swivel sucker-rod joint



oca. 1s, 1923.

y 1,471,105 R. E. cox

BALL BEARING SWIVEL SUCKER ROD JOINT Filed oct. 15. '1921' A` initted by the s\vivel=.joint. while unscrewing Patented Get; l Y16, 1923;

ira f iiseiiiannE.v con, or'ionitianon, clarin-enivre.

' BALL-*BEARING swivnn sucnnninen sonar."

-iiippiicanon nesten-ber 15,1921; sensi no. sottesa", ,Y y

Torrance, in the vcounty of Los Angeles and r,State oi California, have invented certainv Y new and useful Improvements in Ball-Bear ing Swivel Sucker-Rod Joints, of whichthe following is a specificationi referencebeing had yto the accompanying drawings. j v f joint which will Voperate.toprfevent unscrewing of the various 4sucker rods in 'a"string,

any turning tendency Lof the rods being per-A will be prevented.

It is well linownin the fart that since lsucker rods `have come `into practical :use for i the purposev ofspumping oil and water lfroml wells, operators have experienced great dif-r `fculty'owing to the factthat the rods separate7 that is theybecoine unscrewed or uncoupled while in pumping inotion.f"Aplong Vvstring of sucker rodswhen subjected'tothe reciprocatorymovement involved in pump-r ing have a very great tendency to turn and being screwed`together and the topmost; rod being grippedsecurely by the pumpingl jack on thederrick'ioor, it is impossible for f Vtherodsv to accommodate themselvesto this. turning tendency without becomingv un-K'y screwed.` Ordinarilysucker rods Y aremade in twenty and Vtwenty-live foot lengths, each rod having on its upper end a male connec-4 tion or threaded pin and having at its lower; end a female connection or threaded boii. In'this mannera complete string of rods arek necessarily securedtogether. Onto the top- .in'ost sucker rod is screwed a'steel rodknown as the polished rod having the saine connection as the sucker rods and being tightly vto thirty-iive hundred fee-t.

gripped by the pumping jack orv pumping 'beam connection which provides the upward yand downward strokes.

jected to constant upward andV downward movement, it is known'that such motion creates a strong inclination to turn the rods.y

in case the rods become unscrewedit is necessary to use some vsuitabletool and fish f v Xiiaddit Aswivel joint which willfbe simple andinexi ifo-r the,droppedrodsandjthis of course re` sultslin a greatloss of production as the well'cannot berpumped. The duration of tiineduring which the lossoccurs is deterl mined bythe length `of time required to remove the. fallen rods andagainV place the ,Well ing, pumping position.y rlhegworky iny voli/ed ofcourse `also necessitates aconsiderable expenditureof timey and labor, which This invention relatiesl to rod jointsypar-k H l ticularlyto oints orconnecting Sucker I'odsf f used in wells7 and has for'its'object'the pfroi "visionA of Ya ball bearingl swivelsucker rodi is costly.x fl Y f f l v g, n

It 'is with the above facts in view that l Vhave designed the' presentinvention which l.,-'contemplates the; provision ot' a swivel joint screwing 1 l A. f

ionalobject isth'e provision-of a Y pensive in:constructiony easy to` install, eilicieiit and Vpositive in action,` durable in serv- `ice and a; general improvement inthe art;

Vith the abo'vezand other objects and ad-Y vantages in view, the 'j invention consists in,A the details of construction to be hereinafter `.morefully described and claimed, and illuse. f

trated yingthe accompanying drawings,fin f w 'which f y f l @Figure lis .thioiighmy joint interposed between' two Ta longitudinal sectional view sucker rods; and Y ,Y

vkFigure 2 isiasideelevation. f

vlctei'ierri'ng more particularly to the draw# ings, thel letter Aidesignates'a pair of suckerrods to be connected and as is well known',

@the'lowerg end of each suckerrod is .formed with a threaded socketB while the upper end is formed with a 'threaded extension C.

In. carryinggout myinvention I` providean upperr coupling member 10 which Lhas a y 'in-nies:-

Squaredportion lliadalpted for engagement] by a wrench or the like whereby it may be tui-ned 'and which has its `upper vend Jformed with a reduced externally threaded exten? sion l2 screwed into the. socketB oa sucker rod. At its other end this body 10 is formed tion 13 which is designed tofbe engaged within the internally'threaded upper endol4 surface of the lowerend ofthis sleeve is formed angular, as shown at l?, orengagenient by a wrench. Y i

with an externally threaded reduced pora sleeve 14C` which has its lower end piovidved with an inwardly extending portion l5 defining a retaining shoulderl. rThe youter rlhe lower coupling member comprises a i.

v`body' 18 which is formedvat one end with a threaded socket 19k-lor receiving the threadyed stem @of the next adjacent sucker rod, and this body l8'hastits lower end .formed With an angular portion 20 facilitating en-` gagement by a Wrench or other toolv for ef- `1ect1ng-tu1'n1ng movement. yFormed upon A #formed fat one "sidefwith a hole28 through which the taper. pin may bepassed prior tov 30 Y the top el the body 18 isan'elongated extension 2l of a size to pass freely into the sleeve let. threadedand engaged thereon is a cylindrinut held lf'a' {ainsl', Vturning movement gbyaftransverse taper Vpin k23.

The upper endet' this extension 21 is n order to' provide means for insuring ree' 1 andjeasy turning 'movement of the p, 'member '18V carrying the sucker rod and the members land l'O'asso'ciated Ywith the suckl er rod next above, l provide arball race 24; n lseating upon the shoulder 176 and supporting `f laser-ies o' bearing balls Y25 above whichV is kdisposed a second 1race26engaged by the Vloverend of a nut 22.- ltshould bestated that fthenut y.is formed atitsfupperend with re# fesses 2?. orcngagement bya'spanner Wrenchr whereby the nut Emay ybe screwedy into` 'place lor unscrewed Vas the case may be, and itl should 'alsobel statedy that the Vsleeve 14 is its disposition throngh'the nut 221 and stem o1 .1.L.

.sorted `flor driving out the pin when desired.

When the'fdevice has Ibeen vconstructed and .assembled vas above described and as shown inthedrawings, itwill be apparentthat 'the parts-.cannot separate longitudinally "owing te the lactthat-the shodlderlsupports the 'fballtbe'aring structure Which in turnsupports thenut 2 2 which is immovable with Irespect to the swivel `steinf2*1. V l'n-theuse of the dejvice it Will beseenlthat kwhen the rods have any-'tendency to 'turn-1n one direction "or the` otherl snch turningy movement isper'mitted While there Willbe no vunserewvi'ng-ofthe rods at their threaded connection' for the reason' y that much-filesseilort is required to effect turning at the swivel joint-thanto 'elec't un- The opposite side is formed with a holev 28a 'through 'which a lpointed tool may be inscrewing at the threadedy joint. The inter- `positionot my swivel structure is thus a safe-y guard against separation of the rods.

From the foregoing description and a study ol the drawings it will be apparent that ghave Vthus provided asimply constructed and consequently inexpensive as Well as easily assembled sucker rod coupling which has a free and easy swiveling action so that all turning tendency of the rods dur ing pumping movement will be taken care-v fform,construction and arrangement of parts asfWill `not'depa'rt from the spirit of the 1n-Y 4v e'ntionor Athe seopeot the sub-joined claim` Having thus describedV my invention, l claim: s i

, Means for coupling apairof sucker rods7 4comprising an upper coupling member having threaded connection' With -the lowerA end of'one 'sucker rod and formed [with aredliced extension atits lower end, a loivercoupling member having threaded'connection withk the other sucker rod and being formed With an npivardly extending reduced extension having athreaded end, sleevethremlcd upon 'said first n'ainedextension and formed at its lower endviith an inwardly extending flange defining jre-taining shoulder, said second jnamed extensionl passing ivithinsaid flange,

yla `pair of ball races rhaving a series Aof balls (therebetween andlseatingvupon said shoulder, "and a nut' rigidly secured upon the 'threaded 'end of the second named extension `andseating npon the uppermost ball race.

'fIn testimony whereof I 'hereuntofallix my signature. f f

REGINAL'D E.v COX. 

